The Day of Atonement

The Day of Atonement, when all the sins that the Israelites had committed during the course of the year were atoned for, falls on the tenth day of the seventh month according to the sacred calendar (Leviticus 23:27). Today, in order to receive the forgiveness of our sins, we have to celebrate the Day of Atonement.
On this day, all of the sins we had committed in the past year are handed over to the devil. Thus the devil makes every effort to prevent God’s people from celebrating the Day of Atonement.

When Moses went up Mount Sinai for the first time to receive the two stone tablets of Ten Commandments, the Israelites thought that they had lost their leader, and so crafted a golden calf and worshipped it.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he was enraged and threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking it into pieces at the foot of the mountain. On that day, three thousand people died. The Israelites who had committed grievous sins bitterly repented of their deeds, and God forgave their sins by giving Moses a new set of the stone tablets.

The day on which Moses came down from Mount Sinai after receiving the Ten Commandments for the second time was the Day of Atonement, which was to be celebrated every year (Exodus 32:1-35).

In the Old Testament times, the priest was to sacrifice a bull as sin offering for himself.In addition, two goats were chosen and their destinies were determined by casting lots. One goat was to be sacrificed to God on behalf for the people, while the other “scapegoat” would be set off to wander in the solitude of the desert.The Day of Atonement is the day when once a year, the high priest enters the Most Holy Place alone.

Hebrews 9:7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.

The sins of the people which had been temporarily held in the Most Holy Place, were transferred to the head of the scapegoat which was to be sent away to die in the desert on the Day of Atonement.

This process reveals that our sins are transferred onto Satan after being temporarily carried by Christ—the reality of the Most Holy Place. Satan will be troubled and suffer eternal destruction in the Abyss—the uninhabited land represented by the desert. Satan will be tormented in hell as he carries all our sins on his head, eventually suffering eternal destruction. We come to understand these principles by celebrating the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:6-22).